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It's important to me. If always bought every system released but due to time I won't be doing that next gen. Having all my games in one device is key. Most likly I'll be going Xbox for this due to bc and playing games on pc. I fully expect ps5 to be bc but not switch 2. Nintendo seems to be behind on things like pc network cloud saves etc

ESRB rating: Early Childhood (EC)

I won’t be buying any next gen console that doesn’t have atleast partial BC.

However I think that’s very improbable. All three switched to x86 making BC pretty much a cake walk next gen. They would have to intentionally cripple their hardware in order to not support partial BC next gen.

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Partial BC is a big factor for me now. I really hope the Ps5 can run all PS4 games ....and hopefully make them retroactively better.

Moving forward I really hope we reach a point where I can just buy a game for "playstation" instead of a specific console so that when I buy a game I know it will work with all future consoles from that point onwards.

The big reason I see more value in PC games is that on top of being cheaper they will probably work with all future computers or hardware upgrades I go through instead of being locked to the one PC I had at the time of purchasing it.

2) I want the partial BC Xbox and Xbox 360 already has in place for Xbox One which allows you to use either disc or digital version.
3) I want Full BC for at least the PS1 and PS2 like the PS3 offered a decade ago, a feature which was taken from us by Sony and never given back.
4) I want full digital migration on all platforms. I want to buy a Game Pass subscription and have an instant game collection of 100+ Xbox titles along with the next-gen first party launch lineup.

I want it all! If I get no BC then the next gen gets no purchase from me. If I get only previous gen BC then I will probably just stick to the previous gen console for longer...

Member

Hard to say. I'm all digital on PS4 so all that moving over would be nice if I was jumping in early on the PS5 but I probably won't get till much later if at all so who knows. Switch successor kind of depends on whether or not it's port city again. If so I'd like the BC but they would probably want to force the double dipping so it might not even be an option. If both consoles actually came off the blocks with brand new exclusives/major Japanese 3rd party support I wouldn't really care about BC much at all really.

Banned

I fully expect the Switch to follow the Iphone-model, so all Switch-games should ve running on Switch 2. Moreover, Switch 2-games will run on Switch 1, but with lesser settings. When the Switch 3 launches, support for Switch 1 stops, and now you have Switch 3 for high-settings and Switch 2 for low-settings. And so on.

Would be shocked if that wasn't what's going to happen, since it makes the most sense considering the consolidation if everything-Nintendo.

Member

BC is not a factor for me at all. I have a PS4, PS3, and PS2. If there was an older game I really wanted to play for some reason, I would just bust out my older console. I rarely use BC as it is on my consoles that have it.
That being said, a situation where say, I own Stardew Valley on the PS4, but can't play it on the PS5 unless I buy it again would be pretty bullshit. It's the same PS store, I already paid for the game, I should be able to redownload it and play it on the new hardware, barring a remake or something. I strongly doubt they would make those digital games BC though.

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I’m Xbox this gen - I’ve no doubt at all I’ll be able to play everything on whatever comes next so I’m totally on board with what they do. The other two are massive unknown quantities Nintendo are shocking for selling you the same game (barely even qualifying for “remaster” status) over and over again - who knows with Sony but if they didn’t do anything it wouldn’t surprise me at all. Crazy waste of an astounding legacy library if they don’t.

Member

Its huge for me as someone who buys and plays alot of games, I don't think it would detour me from not buying a next gen console and as gamers we've all shot ourselves in the foot by buying remasters. So basically, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft already know they can make more money off remasters by not including it.

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.

I'd say it plays a pretty huge factor. I've bought a huge number of physical PS4 games this gen (nearly 300) as well as digital games (200-ish, mostly from PS+) so if the PS5 can't play them out of the box I probably won't be that interested in it until it has a pretty sizable library of games I want to play. I'm not holding my breath on this one, but Sony could surprise me.

As for Xbox, I didn't have one last gen but I've been buying a fair few 360 games to play on my Xbox One. For Xbox One games I've gone mostly digital. If the next Xbox can't play either XB1 games or stuff that can be currently played via BC, I'm not interested at all.

Member

BC doesn't have a significant impact on whether or not I buy the console (it might affect what order I buy them in, but I'll end up buying all of them sooner or later again anyway), but it makes a big impact on which platform I prefer to buy games on - even before getting the X, I was buying multi-plats on Xbox simply because Microsoft's publicly stated stance on BC makes me much more confident that they'll be playable on future consoles.

Member

It's a big point for me. It's getting very cluttered under my tv cabinet and I want an all in one system.
I loved my 60Gig PS3. It felt like a proper entertainment system with everything I could want all in one case.

I leaning heavily towards passing the next gen systems and sticking to PC. Full B/C might make me re-consider.

Member

For the ps5, not having full ps4 backwards compatibility would be extremely annoying. In the beginning of the gens, there are typically not very many amazing new games coming out. Look how weak 2014 was. I would love to be able to catch up with all of these amazing ps4 games coming out but playing them with a pro patch in the first year or two of the ps5.

Member

I would rather not have system power and development time taken up by BC at all. I eventually buy all consoles anyway, and they're weak enough as it is, so not having BC holding back a generation of games that little bit more would be nice.

Gold Member

Most of my games are on PC, and each time I get an upgrade for my PC some of my older games just get better (ok these days I can play most things on max details). I'm still puzzled this is simply not an option with consoles.

Member

If the PS5 is able to play my PS4 library, that might sway me to pick it up. I play most games on PC now, so I'm not that interested in the next generation of consoles. I think full compatibility with old (physical) games is not realistic.

I don't quite follow this logic, considering consoles today are based on the same architecture as PCs and my current desktop CPU is in no way "gimped" just because I can run Master of Orion from the year 1993 or Deus Ex from 2000 etc. on it. The PS3 with its crazy bespoke architecture is a case of yesteryear. It doesn't seem to make too much sense for console manufacturers to stray too far from the beaten path now.

Member

I don't quite follow this logic, considering consoles today are based on the same architecture as PCs and my current desktop CPU is in no way "gimped" just because I can run Master of Orion from the year 1993 or Deus Ex from 2000 etc. on it. The PS3 with its crazy bespoke architecture is a case of yesteryear. It doesn't seem to make too much sense for console manufacturers to stray too far from the beaten path now.

I see your point and I guess it might very well be that Sony would prefer not spending any money on making sure old games work. But then they could at least offer a PSNow service for previous gen games you own. Microsoft manages to offer a whole library of games spanning 3 console generations, I don't see why they would not able to add the 4th. Of course, the cynical side of me would see the obvious incentive of Sony not to offer backwards compatibility, because then they can sell another load of re-mastered and re-made older titles.

Member

I used to think I cared but I don't actually. I've found that I very rarely play games from prior generations unless they are a full on remaster/remake or can be visually upgraded and played on a PC emulator. Even then, it's still not very common.

While some of my favorite games are from the past, I'm of the general opinion that games get better over time. Visually, obviously, but also from enhancements to gameplay systems and general quality of life stuff. I find that I usually just load up an older game to get my nostalgia fix for a couple hours and move on because the game ends up being not as good as I remember it (because of modern gaming advancements).

I've never not bought a system because it didn't have B/C. If it has games I like, I'll buy it. That said, B/C used to at least be a positive selling point for me that could possible push one system over another but at this point, I can't honestly say I would care.

Member

And I don't expect to see more of it in the future. The vast majority of consumers have shown BC isn't a factor when it comes to buying hardware. And consumers have shown they have a real appetite for remastered software (and hardware).

I would not give something away for free to an indifferent audience when I could, instead, sell it to a hungry one.